I think self-invested pensions are the way to go tbh. Might just be my opinion cos I’m a bit of a control freak but too many fund managers are invested solely in the Irish market imo. It’s just too risky and it’s not matched by the potential for gains.

[quote=“ClarkeyCat”]That’s mad. Have they attempted to buy you out of it and throw you into a DC scheme? There’s fook all DBs left and I thought your lot would have the savvy to have gotten out of DBs.

I think self-invested pensions are the way to go tbh. Might just be my opinion cos I’m a bit of a control freak but too many fund managers are invested solely in the Irish market imo. It’s just too risky and it’s not matched by the potential for gains.[/quote]

They’re out now but I got in just in time.

Started up the health stuff last year. Had a sore stomach for about a month so got myself a policy. Waste of fecking money but sort of forced into doing it by the family.

The saver / spender thread got me thinking back to this one. Pensions taking a bit of a hammering over the past 12 months so they’re not the all singing all dancing solution they were a couple of years ago.

I’ve always been in a VHI scheme, my old pair had paid it for me up until last year but seeing as I had been working full time for four years and haven’t lived at home in 8 years it was time to start paying my own way. Comes straight out of my salary every month so don’t really notice it. Have the option to go with Quinn, Vivas or VHI, there’s probably a price difference in them but I can’t be arsed doing it.

On the pension side I can’t be bothered putting into some investment fund run by a guy who might as well be throwing darts at a board to pick the stocks. It was funny watching the George Lee documentary “How we blew the boom” to see some of the experts declare that we were going to have a soft landing and that there was no problems with our banks, it just goes to show that no one knows where the markets are going. Most pension schemes offered to workers in Ireland are a pile of sh!te, you get about three/four options to invest. The only thing you can do is to have a diversified portfolio of investments, for example split your investments into equities (and within that different types of equities), commodities, property, debt securities and after that it’s up to the market what you end up with. All that is easily achieved through selecting investment funds yourself.

[quote=“briantinnion”]I’ve always been in a VHI scheme, my old pair had paid it for me up until last year but seeing as I had been working full time for four years and haven’t lived at home in 8 years it was time to start paying my own way. Comes straight out of my salary every month so don’t really notice it. Have the option to go with Quinn, Vivas or VHI, there’s probably a price difference in them but I can’t be arsed doing it.

On the pension side I can’t be bothered putting into some investment fund run by a guy who might as well be throwing darts at a board to pick the stocks. It was funny watching the George Lee documentary “How we blew the boom” to see some of the experts declare that we were going to have a soft landing and that there was no problems with our banks, it just goes to show that no one knows where the markets are going. Most pension schemes offered to workers in Ireland are a pile of sh!te, you get about three/four options to invest. The only thing you can do is to have a diversified portfolio of investments, for example split your investments into equities (and within that different types of equities), commodities, property, debt securities and after that it’s up to the market what you end up with. All that is easily achieved through selecting investment funds yourself.

No intention of doing it myself just yet though.[/quote]
Pensions are a long term investment.
30 years of a long term investement.
Personally I have mine now in 100% global equity on the basis that you can buy units of equity now for very cheap.

It’s also a handy way of saving if you want to put it into something like a secure performance fund earning 5% or more guaranteed but linked to managed consensus funds so it can be much better than 5%.
You get relief on it so if you’re paying the higher rate of tax you get this money out and into the pension before the tax is taken, so if you put 1k a month into the pension you woudl only be getting 1k-40+ % if you wanted to keep the money, so in effect you’re already up money.

Think with most companies you’d have to put in 4% and then the company will put in 5% on your behalf. But I was advised when I was around that age to lash money into it and it was great advice. I put in another 6% on AVC so I was paying 10% myself with the company giving another 5%. And as MGG said, the tax man can’t touch it. Do it now, you won’t feel it coming out.

You get taxed on the way out though lads so it’s not tax free, it’s just a deferral of tax. Does the legislation allow one to manage one’s own pension does anyone know? As far as I know it’s common place in the UK - they’re called SIPPS or something aren’t they? Do we have similar legislation in Ireland?

Get yourself a fucking rake of pool tables, poker machines and a few juke-boxes.
Pick your locations - busy spots in busy towns with young punters.
Every 2 or 3 weeks shuffle along, chat the proprietor, give him his shekels and jog off with the rest.
No worries about the state if the fookin’ ISEQ.:rolleyes:

Changed jobs about four or five months back. VHI and pensions were all taken off involuntary in old job which I found great to be honest as if these things are not done for me then I rarely get off my arse and do them myself.

Since then I got letters from the VHI (about a million of them) and one from the pension people. Have done nothing yet with the pensions but have arranged for direct debit on my VHI. My current employer does nowt in terms of contribution to pension or group VHI schemes.